Marvel honors boy with deaf superhero named Blue Ear

A New Hampshire family learned that superheros really can save the day.

When 4-year-old Anthony Smith started refusing to wear his hearing aid, his mom, Christina D’Allessandro, was at a loss.

Anthony Smith has a chromosomal disorder called mosaic trisomy 22; he has no hearing in one ear and limited in the other. Without the hearing aid that he calls “Blue Ear,” everyday life becomes a struggle for him and his family.

Out of desperation, Christina sent an email to Marvel Comics asking for help. Her son is a huge comic book fan and he told his mom that he didn’t want to wear his hearing aid because superheros don’t wear them. Christina asked Marvel to send her a copy of a hero her son could relate to, according to Fox News.

Marvel forwarded an image of a 1984 comic cover featuring Hawkeye who temporarily lost his hearing from a sonic arrow, but they also sent Anthony a package in the mail with a series of pages featuring a new superhero based on Anthony and named The Blue Ear. In one, The Blue Ear is standing on a city rooftop saying “Thanks to my listening device I can hear someone in trouble!” according to Time.com.